Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/401

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY o/o Mr. George Sydney Aldridge IT is difficult for the average individual in an old settled country to realise how many parts on the stage of life a man can play in a new and undeveloped country. The history of almost every prominent Australian range of talent to correspond with the large scope shows the development of a wide afforded to him by his surroundings. The man behind the counter in a retail shop has frequentl)' become a leading politician, knighted or otherwise honored by his country. The young Scotchmen, from Kirkcaldy, become merchants, shee]:)farmers, and millionaires. The banker becomes a clergyman, and the Methodist parson writes of warlike deeds and bloodthirsty fights. F"rom clerk to shopkeeper, farmer to politician, grocer to sheepfarmer, sharebroker to newspaper proprietor, bank clerk to surgeon, peddler to artist, bush - hand to poet — from one occupation to another of the most diverse description, the; young Australian passes with marvellous facility. Of such men is Mr. G. S. Aldridge, the President of the Stock Exchange of Adelaide. P irst a clerk, next an accountant ; again a surveyor in the wilds of the Northern Territory, after that a mining prospector, then an Hammer & Ok, Photo auctioneer, and also a brewer, he finally becomes a sharebroker and the head of a great institution. Mr. Aldridge was born in London on July 23, 1847, but arrived in this Province while still an infant. He was educated at St. Peter's College, under the Head-Mastership of the Rev. G. H. F'arr. He not only had a successful career at the College, but gained distinction at the competitive examinations held for the Province when the Governor, Sir Richard Graves MacDonnell, was President of the Board ot Examiners. He next filled various positions as clerk and accountant in several mercantile houses. Throughout this time he was a good all-round athlete, and his name is noted in the early history of sport in South Australia. F"or instance, on the occasion of the Duke of Edinburgh's